


Because

by stumblednorth



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:54:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26790037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stumblednorth/pseuds/stumblednorth
Summary: Coda to 13.21 (or AU of 13.22) where Castiel owns up to his mistakes and actually tells Jack what Lucifer did to Sam in particular and the world in general, instead of stuttering for no reason because plot device.
Relationships: Jack Kline & Sam Winchester
Comments: 3
Kudos: 57





	Because

**Author's Note:**

> If you think you've read this before, you're right: I posted this a little over two years ago on May 15, 2018. I took all my stuff down in the second half of 2019 because of an awful fandom experience. I was sure I'd never be back but recent nonsense has made me feel I needed to put this up again. Originally I posted it over two chapters; this time I'm posting it as only one.

"Why does everyone hate you?"

Before Jack can hear Lucifer’s answer, Castiel says, "Because you tortured Sam Winchester."

Jack’s head whips around. "What? No. My father just brought Sam back."

"Exactly," Lucifer says, smiling at Jack, and Jack smiles back. A world without Sam Winchester is not something Jack can imagine, and Jack can’t remember the last time he felt so fiercely grateful.

"I didn’t mean just now, Jack."

"Hey," Lucifer says, putting an arm around Jack’s shoulders and pulling him the tiniest bit farther from Castiel. "My son said he wanted to listen to _me,_ not you."

"He tortured Sam Winchester, Jack. In his cage."

"What…" Jack blinks. "Cage? You were in a cage?"

"Yes," Lucifer says. He looks sad. "I was locked in a cage in _Hell,_ all because I dared to-"

"Jack. He tortured Sam for centuries. I’m talking about unimaginable pain. Anything you can imagine, a million times worse than that."

For a moment, Jack can’t find his voice. He turns to look at his father, but his father looks different now. Nostrils flared, he’s glaring angrily at Castiel. No. Jack can’t believe it. "Is that true?"

Lucifer visibly calms himself. "Well-"

"It’s true," Castiel says. "Ask him why, Jack. Why he tortured Sam."

Lucifer is back to glaring at Castiel, and something very furious and angry crosses his face. Jack swallows and turns to Castiel instead.

"Because Sam threw him back into the cage to stop him from turning our world into _this._ "

"No, he…" Jack is shaking his head before he realizes what he’s doing. "No, Michael did this. Michael tortured me."

"He tortured you in this universe, Jack-"

"Shut up, Castiel," Lucifer snarls.

"Everything Michael did to this world-"

"I said shut _up_!"

"-Lucifer was about to do in our universe, and Sam sacrificed himself to save the world."

Jack is trying to control the jolts of anger leaping out of him. He’s upset. People get hurt when he’s upset. (Sam might get hurt.) He has to control this. But–Lucifer wanted to do this? And… "You said Sam… went to Hell? You mean willingly?"

"Yes," Castiel says.

"Okay," Lucifer starts, "I’ve been _extremely_ patient so far-"

"Stop," Jack whispers, shaking the heavy log of Lucifer’s arm off his shoulders and raising his palm. "Stop talking. I’m listening, Castiel."

"Sam jumped into the pit voluntarily, yes. He let Lucifer possess him because he knew it was the only way to force him back into Hell. To keep the world safe from, well." Castiel gestures around them. "This."

Jack forces one foot to move, then the other, on and on, until he’s stepped back into the dark. Then his legs give and he’s sitting on the floor, forcing his back against the wall.

"Son-"

Jack raises his palm again, and Lucifer flies back a few steps and lands on his ass in the dirt. "I said stop talking."

Castiel sighs. "I’m sorry, Jack, but you needed to know the truth."

"How did Sam get out of Hell?"

Castiel smiles. "I… pulled him out."

"Oh." Jack forces a smile. Jack remembers what torture felt like, and the mere idea of it happening to Sam, at the hands of Jack’s father… But Castiel deserves a smile, if he rescued Sam. Jack’s mom was right to stick with Castiel.

"You left me his soul to play with, though."

"What?" Jack looks at Castiel. No. Lucifer must be lying again. Isn’t he the Prince of Lies?

"I…" Castiel looks down. "It was very difficult to pull Sam out in the first place and I… We eventually restored his soul."

Lucifer barks a laugh, now cross-legged on the ground. " _We?_ "

"Yes," Castiel says, keeping his eyes on Jack. "Well, it was Dean. And Death. The Winchesters are family, Jack, so you get used to saying _we._ So, you see, when Lucifer-"

"I didn’t break Sam’s mind though," Lucifer says. He smiles at Jack’s stunned expression. "I didn’t. If you’re going to believe one thing I say, believe this."

Completely lost, Jack looks at Castiel.

Who glances away, shifting. "I… uh. I thought I was doing the right thing."

"So was I!" Lucifer gets up. He doesn’t come any closer. Jack wonders if Lucifer can sense how Jack’s barely keeping the whiplash of emotions in check. "So was I, Jack, when I thought humans were a mistake that needed to be erased. I was wrong. I made a mistake. Why is it any different than Castiel’s mistakes? Or Sam and Dean’s-"

"You _killed_ thousands of innocent people," Castiel hisses.

"And how many do you think the Leviathans _you_ brought out of Purgatory killed, huh?"

"Shut up, both of you," Jack snaps. "If Sam put my… If Sam put Lucifer back in Hell, how did he get back out?"

Castiel’s deafening silence along with Lucifer’s smug smirk almost do it; it’s all Jack can do to keep his anger from lashing out. He needs…

Sam. He needs to see Sam.

Lucifer is still smirking, however, and Jack has to know what that’s about.

"Castiel? How did he get back out?"

"Yes, Castiel, how exactly did I get out?"

Castiel bows his head. "I… let him out. I-"

"Thought you were doing the right thing," Lucifer sing-songs, and Jack is glad he’s already sat down because he is numb everywhere. "Oh, I get it. Absolutely understandable. So again, apart from the whole pointing the finger at me thing being a little… hypocritical, coming from you, why is it any different than what I did when I thought I was doing the right thing?"

Jack raises heavy eyes to Castiel. "Sam and Dean agreed to that?"

"Oh no," Lucifer interrupts. "Oh my gosh, Sam and Dean didn’t know. It was our secret, me and Cas. He let me ride him back to the bunker. I was right there with them, Jack, and they didn’t even know—they never even suspected!" Lucifer chuckles and wipes an actual tear of mirth. "Oh, man, and when I was preparing the spell to bring Dean back from the past Sammy stood there solemnly all sweet and worried and _begged_ me to use his soul for the spell, he was worried about my health, well, technically he was worried about Castiel but-"

The wave of pure, horrified fury that rips itself out of Jack flings both Lucifer and Castiel away, but that’s the last thing Jack sees before closing his eyes to find Sam.

Sam. He needs to get to Sam, he needs to look at Sam’s kind, gentle face and hear Sam’s quiet, unassuming breathing, he wants to ask Sam how, _how_ Sam could even find it in himself to be so endlessly kind to the son of the person who—

He wants the only man who has ever been a father to him, plain and simple.

With every horrified cell in his body, Jack _reaches_ for Sam.

***

Sam is standing on a porch alone.  
  
Jack freezes where he teleported, hidden behind a tree, when he realizes exactly what he was about to do.  
  
Jack, the son of Lucifer, the son of the angel who tortured Sam for centuries, was about to rush to the noblest, kindest man he’s ever seen and pull him into a long hug like Jack has wanted ever since Sam was resurrected, as much to feel Sam alive and breathing and real as to seek that much-needed comfort that Jack knows in his bones only Sam can give him.  
  
Jack is stunned at his _nerve_.  
  
How can he even face Sam? How could there be any hope for Jack, with the blood of Sam's torturer running through his veins?  
  
Jack watches Dean get to hold Sam and not let go. Jack watches the anguish on Sam's face from behind the tree, every cell in his body screaming at him to _move_ , go to Sam, help Sam somehow… when it dawns on him that being here is the worst thing he could possibly do to Sam.  
  
Jack is Lucifer's son. Jack’s powers, no matter how huge, must be nothing compared to Lucifer’s, and if Jack was able to fling him, then it was simply because Lucifer himself let it happen. He was indulging Jack, and now he must be furious.  
  
Jack hurts people when he's scared or sad or angry, even when he means them no harm. He’s killed just by raising his hand—he’s flung Sam back and slammed him against the wall, and he never even meant to hurt him.  
  
What would Lucifer do when he's angry? Lucifer—who was already angry and hateful enough to want to turn the beautiful world where Jack was born… into this?  
  
No. Jack's not going to put Sam in any more danger. He's going to play along. He’s going to lie, and it won’t be evil. It will be like Dean said: sometimes they lie to help. Jack's doing it to keep Sam safe. He repeats in his mind like a mantra: It's not evil, and it's not because he is Satan's son.  
  
***  
  
So Jack plays along.  
  
He plays along when he teleports back to find Lucifer all but choking Castiel to death. Lucifer laps up Jack's mumbles about it all being too much, and Castiel looks at him in disappointed silence when Jack tells him he doesn't believe what Castiel said about Lucifer.  
  
He plays along through Sam's gentle attempt to get him to reconsider and barely manages to keep up the pretense.  
  
He plays along even when the rift closes and Lucifer doesn't make it back, because Lucifer's gloating words about coming back to the bunker undetected possessing Castiel are still ringing in his ears, and Jack can't be too careful or Lucifer might hurt Sam out of vengeance. He plays along until everyone's celebrating a world safe from Lucifer and Michael.  
  
And then Jack can't play along anymore. Because a world without Lucifer doesn't mean anyone's safe.  
  
Jack, Lucifer's spawn, is still here.  
  
Dean hovers close to Sam but Jack, reeling, can sense Sam's worried eyes on him throughout the party.  
  
How can Sam still find it in his heart to be worried about Jack?  
  
Or maybe he's scared of Jack.  
  
Jack wouldn't blame him. Jack is scared of himself, his own powers, his father's blood in his veins.  
  
Sam believed in him. It's only a question of how soon Sam will realize how grave a mistake that is, how soon Jack will cone into his full powers and become the abomination Lucifer's blood has destined him to be.  
  
The last time he can feel Sam's eyes on him, he can't take it any longer. He gets up and flees.  
  
***  
  
In his room in the bunker, the room Sam insisted was Jack's, Jack pretends to be asleep when Sam knocks.  
  
"Jack, please let me in if you're awake," Sam says softly. When Jack forces himself not to answer, Sam knocks again. " _Please_."  
  
He can't face Sam. But he can't keep Sam standing on the other side of the door, asking to be let in. Not after everything Sam's done for him.  
  
He gets up from his crouch in the corner of the room and opens the door.  
  
"Hey," Sam says, his smile kind and gentle… and uncertain.  
  
Maybe Sam's just realizing he's scared of Jack, and any minute now, any minute—  
  
"Hey. Jack, hey," Sam says gently, stepping into the room and closing the door on the din outside. "Jack, I'm sorry, I don't blame you for being upset-"  
  
Jack shakes his head around the hot lump in his throat, traitorous tears stinging his eyes at the pure concern flowing to him from Sam. Sam shouldn't have to comfort Jack for being a monster.  
  
"I know he's your father, Jack, but I couldn't let him back into this world. I'm so sorry-"  
  
What? "No. Sam, no. Wait."  
  
Sam bows his head in silence, and Jack realizes, stunned, that Sam doesn't hate him just yet.  
  
"Sam, you... Do you think I'm mad that you left Lucifer there?"  
  
"Like I said, I don't blame you-"  
  
"I'm not mad, Sam. I'm _ashamed_ that he's my father." Horrified, Jack can feel his control slipping. "How can you even stand to look at me, after everything he's done to you-"  
  
Sam's flinch stops him short. "What… Who told you that?"  
  
"Castiel. Oh god, Sam, I'm so sorry—you must hate me-"  
  
"Stop right there," Sam says firmly. "I don't hate you, Jack."  
  
"I'm a monster."  
  
"No, you're not." Sam is searching his face earnestly. "Listen to me. You are anything but a monster. You're a sweet, half-angel kid who has never wanted to do anything but the right thing since the day he was born."  
  
"I am Lucifer's spawn. His blood is in my veins-"  
  
"I've got a demon's blood pumping through mine, Jack. Do you think I'm a monster?"  
  
Speechless, Jack shakes his head. _You're the best person I've ever known._  
  
"Why? We've both got evil blood in our veins. Why does that make you a monster but not me?"  
  
"I'm Lucifer's son. What if I can't help it? What if I'm just rotten inside?"  
  
"You're not," Sam says, eyes blazing with sincerity. "You've got so much good inside you, Jack, more than you yourself could imagine."  
  
"What if I… What if I do something horrible thinking I'm doing the right thing? What if I stray-"  
  
"You won't. I won't let you. You've got me and Dean to guide you back."  
  
Dean. Oh God.  
  
It must be evident on his face because Sam says, "Dean doesn't hate you. Believe me. Dean's just… Dean's been through a lot and he's… angry. At a lot of stuff."  
  
"Why are you never angry? You've been through a lot too."  
  
"True. But Dean is…" Sam smiles gently, sadly. "Most of the stuff Dean's angry about is bad stuff that happens out of his control. Most of the time, it happens to me. And Dean... He lives in constant fear that something will happen to me again, and it makes him feel helpless. It's a nasty feeling."  
  
Jack nods furiously.  
  
"The first time I died, Jack, Dean sold his soul to a demon to bring me back. He went to Hell for it. And yet he would still die for me—has died for me more than once."  
  
"What?"  
  
Sam looks down. "He died on a doctor's table—voluntarily—to get Death to get me my soul back from Hell. He... Nevermind. The thing is all Dean wants to do is protect me, and the fact that he can't is why he's so angry. It's like he feels he has to run nonstop in every direction to stop bad things from finding me, and the worst thing is he knows it's impossible."  
  
"But that should make him sad, not angry."  
  
Sam's smile gets even more sad. "There's a kind of very deep sadness that looks like anger. Anger gives you the illusion of being in control. That you can _do_ something. That you're not helpless. I've been there too, so I understand where Dean is coming from."  
  
"Oh. And Dean was also very sad because your mother was Michael's prisoner, and because of Lucifer…" Jack looks away. "And then you made him let me stay here even though I'm-"  
  
"This is your home, Jack. You're not 'staying' here; you _live_ here. And just because I know where Dean is coming from doesn't mean he doesn't act like an ass sometimes. Just remember it's not because Dean hates you. It's just that he finds it very hard to accept that bad things can happen to me and he won't be able to stop them."  
  
Jack looks at Sam's kind face, Sam who doesn't hate Jack, who is still giving Jack his unconditional care, who has just said this is still Jack's home, who has just promised to watch over Jack so he would never turn into a monster.  
  
Sam is looking at him hopefully now, a gentle smile on his face, and Jack remembers how dead the world seemed when he thought he would never see that face again or hear Sam breathe again or listen to him talk in that quiet, kind voice again, and he loses it, pulling Sam into a desperate hug long overdue.  
  
Sam hugs him back without reservation, brushes back his hair and lets Jack sob his eyes out into Sam's t-shirt, and Jack feels light and safe and full of sweet, warm hope.  
  
Lucifer may have spawned Jack, but that doesn't make him Jack's father.  
  
Because this kind, brave hero who sacrificed himself to keep the whole unsuspecting world safe? This man is Jack's father, and Jack is this hero's son.


End file.
